Cleat for electric wiring



(No Madel.)

J. H. SWIFT 82: W. P. MAINTIEN.

GLBAT FOR ELECTRIC WIRING.

No. 531,702. Patented Jan. 1, 1895 k w w. M

0 C M in \W VLQAQQM UNITED STATES PATENT @FEICE.

JOSEPH ll. SWIFT AND WILLIAM F. MAINTIEN, OF PLAINVILLE,

' MASSACHUSETTS.

CLEAT FOR ELECTRIC WIRING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,702, dated January1, 1895.

Application filed March 17, 1894- Serial No.504,082. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JosEPH H. SWIFT and WILLIAM F. MAINTIEN, citizensof the United States, residing at Plainville, in the county of Norfolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cleats for Electric Wiring; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Our invention relates to improvements in cleats for electric wiring;that is cleats adapted more particularly for interior work.

The object we have in view is to provide a cleat which is comparativelyinexpensive; which can be readily located and secured in position, andso arranged that the wire or wires can be quickly introduced into and aseasily removed from the cleat, and having the latter adapted to firmlyclamp the wire in place without injury to the covering or insulationenveloping it.

To that end our invention consists essentially of a two-part cleat,arranged to be secured in place, having the contiguous faces of the saidtwo parts substantially concavoconvex transversely and extendinglongitudinally of the cleat and further having curved wire-holdin gnotches or grooves formed the rein, as will be more fully hereinafterset forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view, showing ourimproved cleats in use. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the cleat, takenon line a w of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 audit are transverse sectional views,taken on lines a: m and 0 0, respectively, of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is aplan view showing a common form of eleat and the manner of parallelangular wiring by the use of such cleats.

In the drawings a indicates our improved cleat as a whole, consisting ofthe two parts I) and c. It may be made of any suitable material, such aswood, metal, papier mach, &c. We prefer, however, to make it ofinsulating material, such for example as porcelain.

The general form or shape of the cleat may be substantially as common toarticles of this class.

Our invention resides in providing the contiguous or clamping faces ofthe cleat with curved or bent surfaces,that is to say the face of one ofthe parts, b, is provided with a longitudinally extending groove ordepression, and the other, or fellow member 0 of the cleat, with aconvex or slightly elevated face, the latter being the counterpart ofthe other face and forming a curved joint h, substantially as shown inFig. 4. The cleat is further provided at or near each end with atransverse notch f arranged to receive the currentconducting wire m. Thenotch or recess f is practically concentric or parallel with and is cuttransversely into the said joint k; that is the portion, or half h, ofthe notch formed in the piece I) of the cleat is concave, the other halfk of the notch being convex, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The form orshape of the notch transversely may be round, V-shape or any othersuitable form adapted to receive the wires m.

The two parts of the cleat are made interchangeable only with respect tothe location and arrangement of the notches and screwholes; that is thepart b may he turned around, end for end, relatively to part a, and viceversa, but they are not interchangeably alike.

Our improved cleat is well adapted to be employed in parallel wiringwhere the direction of the wires is to be changed, say at an angle ofninety degrees, as represented in Fig. 1. In such case the outer or endportions of the notch f are cut away and made quite flaring, as shown atl in said figure. By means of this construction one cleat a only isneeded to hold the pair of wires in place at the point where thedirection of the wires is changed, whereas it has been usual heretoforeto employ two cleats s, s, for the purpose, as shown by full lines inFig. 5, although in some cases the cleat s and outer wire have been arranged as indicated by dotted lines in said figure.

By means of our invention it will be seen that when in use the twohalves or parts 5, c, of the cleat are held in position laterally withcomparatively little strain upon the holding down screws 6; the wires mare clamped in place without injury to the insulation covering them; thecurved notchfserving to produce a slight bend in the wire and thusprevent the latter from endwise movement.

The contiguous or meeting faces h of our improved cleat are not level orplane, therefore they are more readily kept in place, as before stated.a

We claim as our invention and desire to secure by United States LettersPatent 1. The improved two-part wiring-cleat hereinbefore described,having the working face of one member longitudinally grooved or recessedand having the contiguous face of the other member the counterpart ofsaid recessed face; the end portions of said cleat being provided withtransversely arranged curved notches, as f, to receive the wires, andhaving" vertical holes extending through the cleat notches being wellrounded and arranged to 30 7 receive and hold the bent portions of thecurrent-conducting wires m.

In testimony whereof we have affixed our signatures in presence of'twowitnesses.

JOSEPH H. SWIFT. WILLIAM F. MAINTIEN.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. REMINGTON, FRED. ARNOLD.

